Fear didn't leave Toshi.
It changed.
By the time he got home, his hands had stopped shaking.
His breathing had steadied.
But something else had taken its place.
Anger.
He closed his door harder than usual.
The sound echoed through the room.
"…What do you want from me?"
He wasn't whispering anymore.
Silence answered him.
Toshi stood in the middle of his room, looking around slowly.
The same walls.
The same furniture.
The same shadows.
"…Come out."
Nothing.
A small, bitter laugh escaped him.
"Yeah… of course."
He ran a hand over his face, pacing slowly.
Back and forth.
Thinking.
She follows me.
She shows up at night.
She gets closer every time.
"…Then stop hiding."
The words came out sharper.
More forceful.
For the first time—
He wasn't begging.
He was challenging it.
That night, he turned off the lights himself.
No hesitation.
No delay.
Darkness swallowed the room instantly.
Toshi lay down on his bed, staring into it.
"…Do it."
He didn't close his eyes right away.
He waited.
Nothing happened.
Seconds passed.
Then minutes.
Eventually—
His eyes shut.
They opened again.
Paralysis.
Instant.
But this time—
Toshi didn't panic.
His chest tightened.
His heart pounded.
But he didn't look away.
"…You're here."
His voice didn't come out.
But the thought was clear.
And she answered.
Standing at the foot of his bed.
Closer than before.
Always closer.
Her white dress barely moved.
Her hair still covered most of her face.
But he could see her eyes.
Red.
Locked onto him.
Toshi stared back.
"…Come closer."
For a moment—
Nothing happened.
Then—
She moved.
Step.
Slow.
Silent.
Another step.
Closer.
Toshi's body screamed at him to look away.
To close his eyes.
To run.
But he didn't.
He kept staring.
"…What do you want?"
No answer.
She reached the side of the bed.
Then—
Without warning—
She was right in front of him.
Too fast.
Too sudden.
Toshi's eyes widened.
Her face—
Closer than ever before.
Her head tilted slowly.
And for the first time—
Her smile changed.
Wider.
Unnatural.
Stretching just a little too far.
Toshi felt something snap inside him.
"STOP—!"
His body didn't move—
But his mind did.
He forced it.
Pushed against the paralysis.
Against the fear.
And suddenly—
His body jerked.
Movement returned.
Toshi shot up violently—
And swung his arm forward.
His fist passed through nothing.
Empty air.
The room was normal again.
No one there.
Toshi stood frozen, breathing hard.
"…Come out…!"
His voice echoed in the room.
No response.
Silence.
But something had changed.
She didn't just watch anymore.
She reacted.
And so did he.
Toshi clenched his fists slowly.
"…I'm not running anymore."
But deep inside—
He knew something else too.
She was getting stronger.
And so was his connection to her.